March 17th, 2013

I can never decide whether to say "Happy St. Patrick's Day" or not. While I have no problem celebrating Irish culture - I am distantly Irish, after all - I have something of an issue with a holiday that is blatantly anti-Pagan. Do I hear exclamations of shock and surprise? Most people are unaware of the actual history of March 17th and why it's celebrated. The story goes that a Christian monk visited the Green Isle to drive out the snakes, and thus there are no longer legless reptiles there. The story, however, is metaphorical - the snake imagery is indicative of Paganism. Though Patrick didn't persecute Pagans the way some Englishmen did, he did such a good job converting them that Ireland quickly became almost exclusively Catholic. While it is true that snakes are hard to find in Ireland, as a fellow Pagan put it, "this may well be due to the fact that it's an island, and so snakes aren't exactly migrating there in packs".
Many Pagans thus choose to wear a snake pin or similar on St. Patty's Day, but I personally like green, and I like clovers, so I'll wear my shamrock socks and tee-shirt. Celebrating the secular aspects of the holiday are fine with me (my mom always makes dinner out of solely green food), but I'm not about to go sit through a Catholic church service, either.
Snakes could potentially figure in seasonal altar décor, or in decorations around the house. The image is just as appropriate for Ostara as it is for the 17th, especially as snakes lay eggs and have long been considered fertility symbols in many cultures.